HELL'S HOUSE

the story begins.

a group of housemates, at the core of a fate they never truly learn. as they run from their demons, some more literal than others, they must work through their interpersonal strife to fight the evil thats robbed them of so much- lest their timeline be doomed to suffer the end that the entitys' did before them. deception, secrets, and denial, as they consider what truly counts as human.

within these halls, find amel, our protagonist. the only child of a wealthy family, the newest in a long line of travelling performers, with parents unamused by their lack of interest. flipping between aggression and distance, amels parents are far from pleasant. met the love of their life, ryan, at a young age. when ryan went missing in their youth, they drove themselves to madness trying to bring him back. forced to make a deal to bring him home, they now hold secrets about who they truly are and what truly went down in the woods that night.

or perhaps look further, and find bri. coming from a terrible homelife, bri attempted to run away as a young child. this failed, and he was soon set to go home after police questioning. however, after a strange, formless being told him he didnt need to go home, he accepted the offer, not really understanding what he agreed to. his biological parents were dead within the hour, and within a couple days he was set across the country to live with his now-father, jackie, who he trusts almost blindly. they would later move into the manor, where he resides today, as he tries to ward off the entity that got him here in the first place.

if you wish, you may speak to cade. an android (called a "REPLIKA") who spent most of his life in the facility he was made in, by the company IRIS. cade was once a violent, selfish, powerhungry man who did what it took to save himself and get what he wanted. however, considering how maltreated the REPLIKAs were in IRIS headquarters, its not a surprise some fought back. after plotting a revolution/escape with his human sister, marylin, and fleeing to the manor, he mellowed out and became much less hostile. the cost of this, however, was crushing guilt about who he once was. he must learn to balance his emotional growth, his fears of the world, and his mechanical issues, while learning how to become a person.

if youre lucky, you could catch a glimpse of jackie. a man from the early 20th century, given new life after unexpected circumstances ended in his premature death. the owner of a major radio company during radios first public establishment, as his influence grew and grew, as did his resentment for his fellow upperclassmens treatment of those under them. his lying, scamming, and cheating to screw them over took him a little too far. they found out. they wanted him dead, and dead they got him. ...until he awoke in his bed. confused and in pain. he was given new existence, and new powers. spending decades in his new ghostly state as a socialite before retreating into himself. lonely, isolated, and being tormented by a physical manifestation of discord, unable to keep friends or even properly work without risking exposing his secret. until a young bri came into his life. after jackies history in the town began to catch up to him, the duo fled, using their connections to settle at the manor.

you could run into marylin as well. her and her two elder human siblings raised by their father. at a young age, she was diagnosed with a fake illness by a fraud doctor. her father believed him, however, which led to a cycle of treatments and medicines that just made everything worse. he spiralled into insanity, starting up a brand-new robotics project at his tech company, IRIS. his original idea fell through, but gave him the idea to create the REPLIKAs, which eventually brought cade into the picture. marylin eventually took up a job at IRIS when she was old enough, which led to her compassion for the REPLIKAs and her gaining a close relationship with her younger brother. her and her brother plotted the REPLIKA revolution together, then fled to the manor, where she now resides with her ex, amel, , who have a...rough standing, as of present.

stay long enough, you might catch phoebe coming through the door. a glampop idol by day, coming from a miserable dead-end job and dumpy apartment. after a shady figure promised her the career of her dreams, she was struggling far too much to say no. but the toxicity and corruption in the music scene left her in a dark place, and she decided she needed a break. so now, her end of the bargain must be fulfilled. she must watch over the housemates. figure out what theyre plotting- if anything at all. she despises this, and wants to double-cross this entity at the first chance she gets. but for now, she is forced to play along. both for the safety of herself, and those shes grown to love.

should you dare enter his room, you could encounter a likely-sleeping ryan. he was the one everyone picked on for no reason- all except for amel. they were the first to come to his side, and theyve been inseparable since. he would gain other friends, such as joel, or another boy named elton who would light his passion and talent for music. a multi-instrumentalist who spent much of his teen years overworked and depressed- concerts here, solos there, on top of school it was too much. he does not remember the night he went missing. he still doesnt know what happened. after getting kicked out in senior year, he moved in with amel with nowhere else to go. the duo eventually move into the manor, and now ryan spends most of his days wrestling with his debilitating mental illness.

or you could step out to the garden, and find sarah sitting amongst the flowers. a gentle pyrokinetic woman who struggles with hidden paranoia, but would love nothing more than to spread a smile across your face. she spent her youth ostrasized thanks to her powers- though she had her dearly beloved family that was what her world revolved around. after an incident involving her powers in her last year of high school, she fears two of her siblings may have passed in an accident. they survived mostly unharmed, however she didnt stick around long enough to discover that truth. instead, she ran. packed her car with as much as she could of her things and bailed. spent a few years living out of her car and couch surfing, never staying in one place for too long. a ghostly being told her that they could make her powers more manageable. she accepted. after all, she didnt want any more accidents, did she? after a crash on the road left her car totaled, she was picked up by marylin and taken to the manor. while her stay was intended to be temporary, one thing led to another and now she remains as the final member of the house.

on occasions, you could meet dear joel during one of his visits. a sweet man, if a bit foolish. a close childhood friend of amel, ryan, and marylin, living a normal life with his moms and two sisters. ryans disappearance hit him hard, but he tried desperately to keep a strong face for amel during it all. the boy eventually was "found", and things seemed as normal as they could. he was the only one of their friend group who stayed friends with marylin after the harsh breakup with amel. time passed, he graduated, and moved out on his own. his main job is auto-repair, but seasonally works in a roller derby rink and might take an odd construction job. he keeps himself busy, but treats himself kindly. he is, by far, the most normal of the people youve found in this place. but in a world of abnormal, how "normal" is normal really?